An EPA staffer reportedly leaked false stories about a cabinet official in order to 'take the heat off' Scott Pruitt

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt takes questions about the Trump administration's withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate accords during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 2, 2017.Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

A communications staffer at the Environmental Protection Agency attempted to plant negative stories about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to distract from the bad news engulfing the EPA.

The staffer, Michael Abboud, told reporters that an Interior staffer teamed up with former EPA deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski to leak harmful information about the EPA to the press.

But several reporters rejected the story, citing a lack of evidence, even as it was published by Patrick Howley of Big League Politics, a right-wing website founded by former Breitbart News employees.

A communications staffer at the Environmental Protection Agency, besieged recently by a series of scandals, attempted to plant negative news stories about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to distract from the bad press engulfing EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, The Atlantic reported Thursday.

Michael Abboud, a young member of Pruitt's press team, shopped the stories around with the intention of "taking the heat off Pruitt," angering some at the White House, according to multiple sources who spoke with The Atlantic.

The EPA denied the allegations about the staffer's actions, calling them "categorically false."

Abboud told reporters that an Interior staffer teamed up with former EPA deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski to leak harmful information about the EPA to the press.

He claimed that Chmielewski, who says he was forced out after objecting to some of Pruitt's spending decisions, was seeking revenge on Pruitt, while the Interior staffer hoped to improve Zinke's standing in contrast with Pruitt, The Atlantic reported.

But several reporters rejected the stories that Abboud shopped, citing a lack of evidence, even as it was published by Patrick Howley of Big League Politics, a right-wing website founded by former Breitbart News employees.

The Interior Department's White House liaison reportedly complained about Abboud's behavior to the White House Presidential Personnel Office, where officials were "enraged."

But the PPO does not have the authority to fire Abboud, who's employment is controlled only by Pruitt. It is unclear whether or to what extent Pruitt was aware of the situation.